"ADAM! Is that you?" a voice boomed through the phone.

"Yes, why?" Adam responded.

"Where are you and where have you been?" the voice shouted.

"Is that you Jason? I can hardly hear you," Adam asked, thinking that the voice was of his older brother.

"Who else would wonder where his half of the van was? Now I want an explanation. I come out of the school building and it is gone and with it, YOU!" Jason said in an angry tone.

"Jason, I do have a private life you know," Adam said, getting a little aggravated with his brother's father like attitude.

"Right now, you have enough of a private life. Now where are you?" Jason boomed back.

"I will be there in ten," Adam said as he hung up the phone and turned it off. He did not want Jason calling back. He looked at Alyssa. "We have to head back. I guess we lost track of time. School is over."

Alyssa at first looked worried. Then she smiled and said, "It was well worth it. I think that I can make it through this because we have just been through too much together. We belong together." She motioned for him to come back to her side. She gently kissed him on the cheek and ran her fingers through his medium length hair. While she still felt confused, Alyssa thought that Christine was not worth losing the one person whom did truly love her, Adam.

Within fifteen minutes, Adam pulled the van back into the parking lot of Emerald High. Jason was sitting on a bench reading a book. Adam parked near where he was sitting and before he could open the door to help Alyssa, Jason was at the window.

"Now I want to know where you went. We are a team and you are not being honest with me. You had better not be sneaking around with that...that... girl," Jason could not say her name.

"My private life is not any of your business, but I was not with Christine it that makes you feel better."

"Adam, you can't just go and skip out of school whenever you want. What a minute..." Jason then looked at his younger brother real close. "Is that what I think it is?"

"What?"

Jason reached up to his brother's mouth and cheek and pointed something out. "That? Is that lipstick?"

Adam looked up in the rearview mirror. Sure enough, there was lipstick marking slightly visible on his face and neck. Blushing, he reached over for a napkin to wipe them off.

"You are seeing that little tramp aren't you!" Jason fired off. "You left with her."

Adam was shocked. His brother was erupting again. "No, I was not with Christine."

"Well, this is going to be good. Here I have been trying to get Alyssa give you a second chance and then you go ditching school with God only knows who. You know what they have been saying about you in school."

"I don't care and what makes you so sure that I was not with Alyssa?"

"Because she told me that she was going to give your ring and stuff back. That she needed time and space to date other boys, that is why! I didn't want to tell you until after school," Jason almost yelled.

Adam's face dropped. He looked like he had been hit with a heavy blow. Sensing the silence, a voice from the back of the van spoke up. "I was going to tell you that Adam, but then things went so great for us." Adam just hung his head, while Jason went around to the back of the van and opened the one door. Alyssa looked back at him, waving her hand. Jason felt like an idiot. He wished he would have stayed quiet, but he really thought that Alyssa had moved on. He let out a sigh.

"Adam, I swear to you. I didn't plan on things to go this way. But I am glad that they did. We are together and that is what matters," Alyssa told Adam, who had turned around in his seat. He smiled and helped her out of the van. The couple shared a parting kiss and then it was back to the case. No more kisses and no more hugs. Not until Christine was exposed--- for good.

Adam never said anything much as Jason got into the van.

"Look, I am sorry Adam. I just got scared when I found out you had left. But I will tell you this, you need to get your act together before you get into real trouble."

"Meaning what?" Adam sneered back. He was upset with his brother, but not as much as Jason would think. Things did look bad on his part.

"Meaning if you keep cutting school, Mom and Dad are going to be down your throat. Case or no case," Jason said, crossing his arm. He did that when he was aggravated, but Adam knew it was because his older brother cared about him.

But Adam never answered him. Instead, he popped in his music to get Jason back so to say. Adam turned the song changer to "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi since it was still in the deck. He then smirked at his brother, who made a face. The boys rode in silence all the way home. Even though Adam thought that his older brother was mad at him, Jason was actually proud of him. He never thought that Adam would show a romantic tie with a girl. His brother having a "private life" was something that was hard to accept. Adam always, well at least most of the time, told him everything. Now he was afraid that this new Adam was going to leave him as an outsider. Yet, it would be normal for Adam to take up with a girl and get married and raise a family--- that is someday in the future. It was then that the vision of Christine poked back in his head, holding a baby with his brother in tow. He knew that DNA would prove it, but they wanted to prove things before then. Things were not timing right at all. "God we have to prove she is not being truthful," he thought to himself.

When the boys got home, the phone was ringing. Adam ran to answer it, figuring it was Christine. However, it was Mrs. Roberts. She was worried when he did not come back to class. Adam assured her that things were fine, that he had just felt a little funny and decided to lay down in the van. Mrs. Roberts gave him a stern warning to never do that with his seizure condition again and to alert her to problems like that. After promising to go by her wishes, Adam hung up the phone to find Jason standing right behind him. Jason just shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"You are babied way too much!" Jason muttered as he laid his books down on the counter.

"I am the youngest!"

"And the biggest pest," Jason said, as he got out the milk and poured it into two glasses. Just then the phone rang. Adam ran to answer it, but Jason got to it first with the portable phone. It was their mother, calling to check in. Jason brought her up to date on the Christine situation.

"I am going to tell you this, I realize that back when I was pregnant they did not have all of these tests. I mean, I had no idea what I was having until I delivered you both! But I do know that at three weeks there is nothing there to do that type of testing on! She is supposed to be in the first trimester and she acts like she is 4 to 6 months!" Mrs. Kramer ranted. She was not happy about having Adam play along with Christine's scheme. But she knew that her son wanted to prove is innocence and Jason promised to hover over his brother, something that he did very well in normal times.

"Exactly! She is covering for someone," Jason said. "But as soon as that baby is born, we can get DNA test and prove everything."

"No unless she has plans to convince Adam to sign the birth certificate, marry her or have the baby and run," Laura replied.

"She has these big plans for us Mom," Adam chimed in on the extension.

"I can imagine. I just wonder if she is even pregnant," Laura commented.

"Mom, she has a little bit of a stomach. I think she really is," Adam added. She had made him feel her stomach a million times. It was rounded and a little hard, but not too big.

They heard their mother laugh on the other end. "I am sorry boys. It is just that you don't start showing like that when you are only three to four weeks. If that was true, I would have been a really big whale after three pregnancies."

"Can they test the baby in the womb?" Adam asked. He did not know how much of this charade he was going to be able to keep up.

"I am not sure Adam. I know that they can test for diseases if there is a need to, but I don't think that they like to mess with the fetus," their mother answered. "I just know that she is up to something. Adam is a cover for someone."

"Well, we are going to find that out," Jason added.

"Adam, you did take your medicine right?"

"Yes, mom," Adam replied with a sigh. He hated being "policed" by his family about his medication. He would be the first to admit that he would forget from time to time, but it didn't kill him.

"I will be home late so get yourself some supper. There should be a spaghetti dinner there and stuff for salad. Be careful boys, love you!" they heard their mother say. Both boys assured her that they would take care of everything and see her when she got home.

Jason started on dinner while Adam began on the salad. They discussed the days events, including Adam's little break. It felt good to finally have his brother open up to him the way he used to before the accident. Jason always had Craig as his best friend and they talked about stuff, but not like he did with his brother.

Noticing Adam having trouble cutting the tomatoes, Jason was about to step in. But he stopped himself. He knew that Adam would just get even more frustrated. Proudly displaying the mutilated tomatoes, Adam put them in the salad bowl. All Jason could think about was that at least they were still tomatoes even if it looked like tomato sauce. Then he started on the broccoli and was getting more frustrated, but Jason still did not step in. That is when he noticed Adam cutting with the knife towards his stomach.

"Adam, don't cut it that way. You could stab yourself," Jason warned. Adam just turned and gave him the look.

"I know what I am doing, big brother," Adam sneered back. He then put the pieces of broccoli in the bowl, making a face at his brother. Next was the lettuce, which worked out well since Jason liked it in small pieces.

"Now for the good part!" Adam exclaimed as he grabbed the cucumber. Adam loved cucumbers, especially with salt and apple cider vinegar. But today, they were going in the salad. Having trouble holding the cucumber steady, Adam pointed the end of the cucumber into his stomach to hold it in place. He did not want to ask Jason for help. He started to slice the cucumber and putting every ounce of concentration that he had into it. Then all of a sudden Chuck barged through the door shouting; "You will never guess who I saw where!"

Startled by the surprise visit, Adam let the knife slip and he felt an enormous stinging sensation from his stomach area. He dropped the vegetable and the knife and looked down at his shirt. Blood was already starting to show. The last time he saw blood was when he finally saw the Cherokee after the accident. The bloodstains on the seat made him feel very queasy for some reason.

Jason did jump, but he was not startled. He turned to face Chuck, waiting for the news that he was so excited about, but Chuck's face had pure terror written on it.

"Adam? What is wrong?" Chuck exclaimed, stopping right in his tracks. His face was completely white.

Jason then turned just in time to see his younger brother start to sway and then collapse on the floor.